AuthorJames Morgan

Overseas wins for the England cricket team are rare. Two wins in a row is rarer. And series wins are even rarer than sightings of Lord Lucan and Elvis Presley. England have therefore achieved something quite impressive this month. This is the side, remember, that couldn’t even win in Bangladesh two winters ago. Instead they were humiliated by a teenager. The fact this game has been won in spinning conditions is even more impressive. 38 wickets fell to spin at Kandy (a world record) and...

Roooooooot. I love it when Joe scores runs. It’s entertaining to watch and it gives the whole side a fillip. This innings was particularly important because it has established (potentially) a winning position. It was also made against the turning ball when the rest of the batsmen generally struggled a bit. If Alastair Cook had made these runs it would’ve been held up as a shining example of ‘leading from the front’ and etched into a plaque outside Lord’s...

First of all a confession. I wasn’t able to watch much of today’s play because I had a symposium at work. Therefore the following report is a mixture of second hand opinions and guesswork. However, I don’t think it takes a genius to work out what happened. Perhaps I should’ve just cut and paste my review of day 1 at Galle? When England were 134-5 I assumed we were playing exactly the same test match. The top order failed yet again – I don’t know why we even...

It’s time for a bold statement. It doesn’t particularly matter what specific XI England pick at Kandy nor the order they bat in. We will win the match (weather permitting) and go on to win the series comfortably. And now for the caveat: England will win comfortably unless Sri Lanka improve big time. The problem for the hosts is that I can’t see this happening. They’re in complete disarray. Herath has retired, Chandimal is injured and will miss the rest of the series, and...

It looks like this game is in the bag. There’s always a chance that something miraculous might happen – although Sri Lanka aren’t exactly blessed with many miracle workers – but one would expect England to romp home quite comfortably from here. I guess the rain might make an unwelcome return too, but we probably only need one of the two remaining days to wrap up a well deserved victory. In the words of a countercultural icon turned middle-aged pop-rock sell out...